Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions Being a Comparison of the Old and New Testament Myths and Miracles with those of the Heathen Nations of Antiquity Considering also their Origin and Meaning

"According to the most ancient tradition of the East-Iranians recorded
in the Zend-Avesta, the God of Light (Ormuzd) communicated his
mysteries to some men through his Word." (Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p.
75.)

[202:6] The paschal lamb was roasted on a cross, by ancient
Israel, and is still so done by the Samaritans at Nablous. (See Lundy's
Monumental Christianity, pp. 19 and 247.)

"The lamb slain (at the feast of the passover) was roasted whole, with
two spits thrust through it—one lengthwise, and one
transversely—crossing each other near the fore legs; so that the animal
was, in a manner, crucified. Not a bone of it might be broken—a
circumstance strongly representing the sufferings of our Lord Jesus,
the passover slain for us." (Barnes's Notes, vol. i. p. 292.)

[202:7] See King: The Gnostics and their Remains, p. 138. Also,
Monumental Christianity, and Jameson's History of Our Lord in Art, for
illustrations.

[204:1] "It would be difficult to prove that the cross of
Constantine was of the simple construction as now understood. . . . As
regards the Labarum, the coins of the time, in which it is especially
set forth, prove that the so-called cross upon it was nothing else than
the same ever-recurring monogram of Christ" (that is, the XP). (History
of Our Lord in Art, vol. ii. p. 310. See also, Smith's Bible Dictionary,
art. "Labarum.")

CHAPTER XXI.

THE DARKNESS AT THE CRUCIFIXION.

The Luke narrator informs us that at the time of the death of Christ
Jesus, the sun was darkened, and there was darkness over the earth from
the sixth until the ninth hour; also the veil of the temple was rent in
the midst.[206:1]

The Matthew narrator, in addition to this, tells us that:

"The earth did quake, and the rocks were rent, and the graves
were opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
and came out of their graves . . . and went into the holy city
and appeared unto many."[206:2]

"His star" having shone at the time of his birth, and his having been
born in a miraculous manner, it was necessary that at the death of
Christ Jesus, something miraculous should happen. Something of an
unusual nature had happened at the time of the death of other
supernatural beings, therefore something must happen at his death;
the myth would not have been complete without it. In the words of
Viscount Amberly: "The darkness from the sixth to the ninth hour, the
rending of the temple veil, the earthquake, the rending of the rocks,
are altogether like the prodigies attending the decease of other great
men."[206:3]

"It is impossible to explain the origin of this darkness.
The passover moon was then at the full, so that it could not
have been an eclipse. The early Fathers, relying on a notice
of an eclipse that seemed to coincide in time, though it
really did not, fancied that the darkness was caused by it,
but incorrectly."

Perhaps "the origin of this darkness" may be explained from what we
shall now see.

At the time of the death of the Hindoo Saviour Crishna, there [Pg 207]came
calamities and bad omens of every kind. A black circle surrounded the
moon, and the sun was darkened at noon-day; the sky rained fire and
ashes; flames burned dusky and livid; demons committed depredations on
earth; at sunrise and sunset, thousands of figures were seen skirmishing
in the air; spirits were to be seen on all sides.[207:1]

When the conflict began between Buddha, the Saviour of the World, and
the Prince of Evil, a thousand appalling meteors fell; clouds and
darkness prevailed. Even this earth, with the oceans and mountains it
contains, though it is unconscious, quaked like a conscious
being—like a fond bride when forcibly torn from her bridegroom—like
the festoons of a vine shaken under the blast of a whirlwind. The ocean
rose under the vibration of this earthquake; rivers flowed back toward
their sources; peaks of lofty mountains, where countless trees had grown
for ages, rolled crumbling to the earth; a fierce storm howled all
around; the roar of the concussion became terrific; the very sun
enveloped itself in awful darkness, and a host of headless spirits
filled the air.[207:2]

When Prometheus was crucified on Mount Caucasus, the whole frame of
nature became convulsed. The earth did quake, thunder roared, lightning
flashed, the wild winds rent the vexed air, the boisterous billows rose,
and the dissolution of the universe seemed to be threatened.[207:3]

The ancient Greeks and Romans, says Canon Farrar,[207:4] had always
considered that the births and deaths of great men were announced by
celestial signs. We therefore find that at the death of Romulus, the
founder of Rome, the sun was darkened, and there was darkness over the
face of the earth for the space of six hours.[207:5]

When Julius Cæsar, who was the son of a god, was murdered, there was a
darkness over the earth, the sun being eclipsed for the space of six
hours.[207:6]

This is spoken of by Virgil, where he says:

"He (the Sun) covered his luminous head with a sooty darkness,And the impious ages feared eternal night."[207:7]

It is also referred to by Tibullus, Ovid, and Lucian (poets), Pliny,
Appian, Dion Cassius, and Julius Obsequenes (historians.)[207:8]

When Æsculapius the Saviour was put to death, the sun shone dimly
from the heavens; the birds were silent in the darkened groves; the
trees bowed down their heads in sorrow; and the hearts of all the sons
of men fainted within them, because the healer of their pains and
sickness lived no more upon the earth.[208:1]

When Hercules was dying, he said to the faithful female (Iole) who
followed him to the last spot on earth on which he trod, "Weep not, my
toil is done, and now is the time for rest. I shall see thee again in
the bright land which is never trodden by the feet of night." Then, as
the dying god expired, darkness was on the face of the earth; from the
high heaven came down the thick cloud, and the din of its thunder
crashed through the air. In this manner, Zeus, the god of gods, carried
his son home, and the halls of Olympus were opened to welcome the bright
hero who rested from his mighty toil. There he now sits, clothed in a
white robe, with a crown upon his head.[208:2]

When Œdipus was about to leave this world of pain and sorrow, he
bade Antigone farewell, and said, "Weep not, my child, I am going to my
home, and I rejoice to lay down the burden of my woe." Then there were
signs in the heaven above and on the earth beneath, that the end was
nigh at hand, for the earth did quake, and the thunder roared and
echoed again and again through the sky.[208:3]

"The Romans had a god called Quirinius. His soul emanated from the
sun, and was restored to it. He was begotten by the god of armies upon a
virgin of the royal blood, and exposed by order of the jealous tyrant
Amulius, and was preserved and educated among shepherds. He was torn
to pieces at his death, when he ascended into heaven; upon which the
sun was eclipsed or darkened."[208:4]

When Alexander the Great died, similar prodigies are said to have
happened; again, when foul murders were committed, it is said that the
sun seemed to hide its face. This is illustrated in the story of
Atreus, King of Mycenae, who foully murdered the children of his
brother Thyestes. At that time, the sun, unable to endure a sight so
horrible, "turned his course backward and withdrew his light."[208:5]

At the time of the death of the virgin-born Quetzalcoatle, the
[Pg 209]Mexican crucified Saviour, the sun was darkened, and withheld its
light.[209:1]

Lord Kingsborough, speaking of this event, considers it very strange
that the Mexicans should have preserved an account of it among their
records, when "the great eclipse which sacred history records" is not
recorded in profane history.

Gibbon, the historian, speaking of this phenomenon, says:

"Under the reign of Tiberius, the whole earth,[209:2] or at
least a celebrated province of the Roman empire,[209:3] was
involved in a perpetual darkness of three hours. Even this
miraculous event, which ought to have excited the wonder, the
curiosity, and the devotion of mankind, passed without notice
in an age of science and history. It happened during the
life-time of Seneca[209:4] and the elder Pliny,[209:5] who
must have experienced the immediate effects, or received the
earliest intelligence, of the prodigy. Each of these
philosophers, in a laborious work, has recorded all the great
phenomena of nature, earthquakes, meteors, comets and
eclipses, which his indefatigable curiosity could
collect.[209:6] But the one and the other have omitted to
mention the greatest phenomenon to which the mortal eye has
been witness since the creation of the globe."[209:7]